Combating Desertification and Drought

Dwindling Water Supplies Make Every Drop Count

By Stephen Leahy
Drought and chronic water shortages played a significant role in sparking Syria's civil war and in unrest throughout much of the Middle East, water experts now believe.

Water Scarcity Could Drive Conflict or Cooperation

By Thalif Deen
When the General Assembly declared 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC) three years ago, the U.N.'s highest policy-making body was conscious of the perennial conflicts triggered by competition over one of the world's most critical finite resources.

OP-ED: Rising Temperature, Rising Food Prices

By Lester R. Brown
Agriculture as it exists today developed over 11,000 years of rather remarkable climate stability. It has evolved to maximize production within that climate system. Now, suddenly, the climate is changing. With each passing year, the agricultural system is becoming more out of sync with the climate system.

‘Deserts Can Save Forests’

By Manipadma Jena
It may take development of the deserts to save forests, say experts, who stress that desert ecology needs to be preserved and enhanced.

Mining Industry Plans Massive Use of Seawater in Arid Northern Chile

By Marianela Jarroud
The arid climate in northern Chile has forced mining companies to seek out new sources of water. The main source is seawater from the Pacific Ocean, whose use is expected to increase significantly in the coming decade despite the high costs of extraction and transport.

Fight Against Drought Is Grounds for Political Divorce in Brazil

By Mario Osava
The decisions taken by the Brazilian government in the fight against drought in the country’s semiarid Northeast are an example of the disconnect between politicians and the citizens, which triggered an unexpected wave of protests in June.

First Steps to Save Burkina Faso’s Forests

By Brahima Ouédraogo
Burkina Faso has just received a grant of 30 million dollars from the Forest Investment Programme to help protect the country's forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with deforestation.

Saving Côte d’Ivoire’s Fragile Forests and People

By Marc-Andre Boisvert
As the Côte d’Ivoire government clears its protected forests of illegal occupiers, particularly in the Dix-Huit Montagnes region, environmentalists say that this crucial move might lead to conflict in an already tense region.

Living Laboratory for Coping with Drought in Brazil

By Mario Osava
The first surprise on arriving at Abel Manto's farm is how green it is, in contrast with the dry brown surroundings. His beans and fruit trees seem oblivious to the persistent drought in the semi-arid hinterland of northeast Brazil, the worst in 50 years.

Climate Change Promises Tough Times for Asia and Africa – Report

By Stephen Leahy
Extreme heat, flooding and water and food shortages will rock South Asia and Africa by 2030 and render large sections of cities inhabitable, if the world continues to burn huge amounts of coal, oil and gas, the World Bank is warning.

FAO Highlights Inseparable Links Between Food and Water

By Thalif Deen

Since food and water are so closely interlinked, there is a lingering fear based on the assumption, if there is no water, there will be no food.

Small Farmers Buffeted by Climate Change

By Thalif Deen
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has long warned that a quarter of the world’s farmland is “highly degraded".

Zimbabwean Farmers Adrift Amid Power Struggles

By Busani Bafana
For the past five years, farmer Melusi Mhlanga has spent nearly 200 dollars each season for inputs, but the maize yields have not matched his investment. 

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Hit Record High in 2012

By Carey L. Biron
Greenhouse gas emissions worldwide rose by 1.4 percent last year, setting a new record, according to data released Monday.

Peak Water, Peak Oil…Now, Peak Soil?

By Stephen Leahy
Soil is becoming endangered.This reality needs to be part of our collective awareness in order to feed nine billion people by 2050, say experts meeting here in Reykjavík.

Fresh Water “More Precious Than Gold” in Bangladesh

By Naimul Haq
Fahima Begum rises each morning at dawn and walks two kilometres to a small pond, the nearest source of fresh water. On her way she passes the rusty old hand-pumped tube well that used to supply water to her village in Bangladesh’s arid Barind region until the water table here dropped out of reach.

Stressed Ecosystems Leaving Humanity High and Dry

By Stephen Leahy
Everyone knows water is life. Far too few understand the role of trees, plants and other living things in ensuring we have clean, fresh water.

Caribbean Farming Gets Its Roots Wet

By Desmond Brown
As Caribbean communities grapple with the entwined challenges of climate change and food security, modern technologies offer hope that the region's stagnating agricultural sector can be made more profitable.

Migratory “Flyways” Decimated by Human Expansion

By Silvia Romanelli
Migratory birds, which play an important role in the complex web of life known as ecosystem services, are under threat as never before, with some species facing extinction within the next decade.

Protecting Niger’s Desert Salt Pans

By Ousseini Issa
The Bilma community has mined the salt pans in the massive Ténéré desert region in northern Niger for centuries. But the threat of the ever-encroaching desert has become a real concern as locals here struggle to cope with a decline in salt prices.

Critics Slam California “Forest Offset” Plan

By Katelyn Fossett
More than two dozen environmental organisations are urging California Governor Jerry Brown to disregard recommendations from a United Nations task force to include so-called forest “offsets” in the state’s new emissions-trading scheme.
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